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Monday, August 24, 2015

Ice Cream, You Scream

     It's hard to believe but summer is starting to wind down. The kids will be going back to school soon or have already started. Many places have been experiencing triple digit weather. We hit it once, but a lot of 90's. When the weather gets hot we're always looking for ways to cool off. One way is what you eat or drink. Ice tea, lemonade or other cold beverage of choice. Ice cream is always welcome in the summer. 



     Thinking of ice cream, I remembered a few years ago when I took some pictures of our grandchildren eating ice cream. Our granddaughter Miranda & family were visiting from California. She and her cousin Rex had an enjoyable and messy time eating ice cream.



Rex 2 1/2
Miranda 3 1/2





Even the pug 'Darth Tater' was hoping for a lick


     There are times when you just let kids enjoy themselves and then hose them off. 



A thought to ponder: "My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate."                        Thornton Wilder


Participating in: Grand SocialWednesday Blog HopShare the Joy

Monday, August 17, 2015

Garden Therapy: A Bridge to Nowhere

     Here's another garden project that we did several years after we moved into our house. My husband designed and built a bridge. It doesn't really go  anywhere  or serve a functional purpose. We just did it for fun.
These two pictures show the start of the construction (March 1997)


This is the finished product before painting. (June 1997)


These were taken at different times in 2009


     I should take back the comment about the bridge not having a functional purpose. Because it has served in other capacities besides just walking over.

As a place to sled when our grandson was 3 years old (2010).

Also a place for a wedding (June 2010). Even with the rain it was
lovely. Besides rain on your wedding day means good luck.


 This year the bridge needed painting. After we did that we added some solar lights to the posts. It makes a lovely addition to our night time garden.

      I think my next project for the bridge will be to add a sign post. I can put how many miles to different destinations. Even if the bridge doesn't really go anywhere, you will be able to pretend that it does.



A thought to ponder: In the moment of crisis the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams.


Sunday, August 2, 2015

Travel Partners

     In June I took a week long trip to New York City with my daughter. I had never been so I was excited for a new adventure. It was a great trip and I have about 390 photos to prove it. I thought about doing this post on my whole trip. But really the only people you inflict with that many travel photos are your family and your best friend. Although I will share some. Like this one of me at the top of the Empire State building.

     I got to thinking about travel in general and in particular who you travel with. You can of course travel by yourself. But it is nice to have someone with whom you can share the experience. My husband is not fond of air travel, but he's a great partner on road trips and we've had many over the years.
      I've been fortunate to have several other great family travel partners. In 2011 it was my sister Chris on a trip to Costa Rica.

     In 2008 it was a trip to Greece with my niece Katrina (my sister's daughter).

     In 1998 in was a train trip through the Copper Canyon in Mexico with my nephew Danny (sister's son).

     My first mother-daughter trip with my daughter Casie was in 1996 to Hawaii.

     A mother-daughter trip with my mother in 1993. We took a trip to Louisiana and enjoyed the sights around Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

     
     I think it probably goes without saying an important prerequisite for a travel partner is that they love to travel.  But even more important is that you both can agree on what you want to see and do. I've been lucky in that all my travel partners have been easy going companions who were up for the adventure. Some of my trips have been tours, so a good portion of the trip is planned for you. But there has always been free time also. Other trips have been self planned. Like the trip to Louisiana. I did the research on things to see and my mother (who was game for anything) was happy to go along. The trip to Hawaii I let my daughter make the arrangements. My only request was that we see the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. We had a lovely trip visiting Maui and Oahu.


     When the opportunity came to make the trip to New York I asked my daughter if she would like to be my travel partner again. My husband, who as I said doesn't like flying and he'd been years ago, declined. He said he didn't loose anything there. Although Casie had been to the city many times before it was always on business. She had never really had the opportunity to see the sights and be a tourist. So the end of June we met up in New York City (she lives in LA). 



     This was a tour group but with plenty of opportunity to explore on our own also. 

Beautiful herbs and spices at the market in Grand Central Station

St. Patrick's Cathedral



Freedom tower at the 911 Memorial

911 Memorial


Walking the Highline


A selfie in Washington Square Park

How could we not see this Lady. 
Also visited Ellis Island



The Metropolitan Museum of Art
So much to see. You really need several days.

A walk through Central Park then lunch at Tavern on the Green

     We had a wonderful and full week in New York City. In that time we walked a little over a 100,000 steps or about 45 miles. Even with taking the subway you better like to walk. The pictures I've showed you are just a few of the things we did while there. We also went to Rockefeller Center, Plaza Hotel, FAO Swartz, Lincoln Center, Chelsea Market, Soho, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Chinatown, Radio City Music Hall, and saw two Broadway musicals; Aladdin and Mama Mia.
     My daughter is a real foodie and loves the Food Network, in particular Anthony Bourdain. One thing she really wanted to do while in New York was visit his restaurant Brasserie Les Halles. Since it wasn't far from our hotel we walked over and had a glass of wine.

    We did  a lot during our visit but I'm sure we only scratched the surface. There is so much to do and see in New York City. I'll bet many of the people who live there haven't even seen it all. It was a wonderful week spent with a wonderful travel partner.


A thought to ponder: Certainly travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.
                                                                                         Mary Ritter Beard



Participating in:Grand SocialWednesday Blog Hop